At the end of last week, Durango’s Christopher Blevins showed his strong early-season form at the U.S. Pro Cup in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Blevins won men’s elite cross country races on Thursday and Saturday as well as the men’s elite short track race on Friday at Centennial Park.
“Three for three this weekend, it feels good to be feeling good,” Blevins wrote on Instagram. “I've always liked racing into form, and the US Cup MTB has been ideal spring training before the big league starts in Brazil.”
The Centennial Park course is familiar to many and Blevins showed his experience, starting on Thursday. Blevins was at the front the entire seven-lap men’s elite cross country race and crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 26 minutes and 23 seconds, winning by 31 seconds. Brayden Johnson was second and Owen Clark was third, 48 seconds behind Blevins.
Blevins pulled away from the field during the third lap and had about a 20-second gap at the beginning of the fourth lap.
Durango’s Team Segment 28 was represented well with Dane Grey finishing in eighth, just over two minutes behind Blevins. Fellow Segment 28 rider Ivan Sippy was 15th.
Fellow Durangoan Riley Amos finished 11th and Fort Lewis College’s Toby Hassett finished 18th.
Amos was at the front for the first two laps before he had a double flat tire during the second lap, sending him back to 22nd at the start of the third lap.
Bailey Cioppa was the top Durango athlete in the women’s elite cross country race on Thursday, finishing seventh in 1:30.35 after six laps. Kate Courtney won the race in 1:26.20. Lauren Aggeler finished 11th in 1:37.53.
On Friday, Blevins won the men’s elite short track race in 21:37 after six laps on the short track course. He beat second-place Carter Woods by three seconds. Amos wasn’t too far behind in third in 21:41. Hassett finished fifth in 21:43.
There was a big lead pack throughout the race with Amos and Blevins near the front the entire race. On the last lap, Blevins got out of the saddle and left the rest of the field in the dust with a devastating attack on the final climb. After that, he had a big enough gap to cruise to the finish line.
Cioppa had another strong showing in the women’s elite short track race, finishing fifth in 20:32 after five laps on the short track course. Kate Courtney won the race in 20:21. Aggeler finished 13th in 21:31.
Durango Devo’s Anna Morozowich won the junior girls 11-14 race in 13:12 after three laps on the short track.
Blevins was the class of the men’s elite field on Saturday in the cross country race and won in 1:23:48. He was at the front for the entire race and broke away from Amos in the middle of the race. Amos finished second in 1:24.43. Sippy showed his pace and finished sixth in 1:26.40; Grey was right behind him in seventh, finishing in 1:26:52.
“My Saturday race was really, really good,” Sippy said. “It was definitely a breakthrough performance for me. So, overall, it was a really successful week.”
Sippy said he’s been building toward that result. He was hoping for a top-10 finish and said it was really cool to race in the elite category with a stacked field of riders.
Aggeler dropped down to the U23 women’s field and finished third in 1:16:55, 4:19 behind winner Marin Lowe.
“Nice week of stage racing in Arkansas,” Aggeler wrote on Instagram. “Raced elite both Thursday & Friday then ended with a third place in the U23 HC race on Saturday! Good sensations knowing the legs are there especially after hard back to back days of racing.”
Many of these riders have their sights now set on the opening round of the 2025 Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Araxá, Brazil, next week.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
